Anthony “Rumble” Johnson was responsible for the two biggest shocks of UFC 210. Before suddenly retiring at the age of 33, Johnson surprised everyone by essentially turning his bout with Olympic wrestler Daniel Cormier into a grappling match. Based on Rumble’s post-fight comments, the two decisions were probably related.

Here’s what Johnson had to say after being choked out by Cormier in the second round of their Light Heavyweight title fight:

“This was my last fight … I gave my commitment to another job. Something that I’ve been wanting to do for a while — it’s not MMA related or anything like that. It’s just time for me to move on to something else. I’m tired of getting punched by guys and rolling around on the ground with guys.”

In short, Johnson was tired of being punched in the head, which, on a basic human level, makes a lot of sense. As he later explained, there’s “nothing fun about” getting punched repeatedly.

And that may very well explain his decision to try to wrestle Cormier. Most pundits assumed Johnson would keep his distance and try to take advantage of his reach and power. That’s how he’s won most of his fight in MMA, and that was really the only way he’d beat a far superior wrestler like Cormier.

That’s what Johnson did initially, and he had some success. He broke Cormier’s nose with a vicious kick and landed some power punches. But then he tried to enter Cormier’s domain by shooting for some takedowns.

Johnson’s conservative strategy obviously didn’t work. Cormier eventually got into top position and had no problem ending the fight with a rear naked choke — the same submission that he used to stop Johnson in their first fight.

In the end, Johnson really only took one big punch from Cormier. And maybe that was the goal for a guy who had already decided to give up MMA. Johnson was walking away after this one no matter what, so maybe the goal wasn’t only to go out with the belt, but to go out with the belt while taking as little damage as possible. And after taking a big overhand right from Cormier in the first, he may have realized that the only way he was going to accomplish that second goal was to turn the fight into a wrestling match.

Johnson’s strategy may not have resulted in a win, but you have to think the 33-year-old is pleased with the result of the fight. He left the Octagon with minimal damage and can now move onto the next phase of his life.

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